


Intrusion

by msrheadcanon



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Drabble, Episode: s05e20 The End (X-Files), F/M, Missing Scene, POV Multiple, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24219556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msrheadcanon/pseuds/msrheadcanon
Summary: The first interactions between Mulder/Scully/Diana after the conference room scene.Also, how did Diana end up in the back seat of the car?
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 12
Kudos: 51
Collections: Missing Scenes from my Headcanon





	1. Diana

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to [Sarie Fairy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarie_Fairy) for the beta and [ScullyLovesQueequeg](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScullyLovesQueequeg) and [starbuckthirteen (Tumblr)](https://starbuckthirteen.tumblr.com/) for the feedback!
> 
> I was inspired to write this while doing my recent [rewatch/analysis on tumblr](https://msrheadcanon.tumblr.com/post/618310183981088768/5x20-the-end-x-files-rewatch-a-little). Hope you enjoy!

She feels the subtle shift in the atmosphere before she sees him enter. The other agents in the room mumble to themselves and vibrate with agitation as he starts to speak, but they don’t interrupt. He’s a whirlwind, and whether he’s there for a minute or years, no one is ever the same.

Hearing his familiar low monotone, with its vulnerability yet complete carelessness, uttering his crazy theories in a roomful of skeptics, she feels a flutter deep within her chest. The nostalgia that the sound evokes within her almost makes her forget why she’s here.

He’s gained some confidence since she’s been gone. He’s aged well, definitely well. The suit he’s wearing doesn’t hide what she knows is underneath - toned muscle, bronzed skin. No longer youthful and innocent, the lines around his eyes tell stories that she’s looking forward to hearing, over coffee and in his bed, or hers. She shivers in anticipation.

When she speaks up in agreement, she watches him carefully, needing to see his surprise and delight at her presence.

After staring at her in amazement, she expects a lopsided smile and a promise in his eyes but instead finds hesitance, fear, and an unreadable emotion that quickly vanishes. It morphs into a blank expression she’s never seen directed towards her. He glances downwards, towards the redhead who spoke to him earlier, then looks away, focused on the task at hand.

She approaches him once the crowd has dispersed, finding him standing close to the redheaded woman. She’s tiny, nearly a foot shorter than Mulder, and Diana quickly dismisses her.

“I’d like to join you, if that’s all right.” The last part of her sentence is a formality. She’s already following him out of the room, only slightly inconvenienced by the other woman who seems to be actively inserting herself between her and Mulder.

“Agent Scully.” The small woman looks over her shoulder to introduce herself as they head down the hallway, but doesn’t bother reaching out a hand.

“I’m Diana Fowley,” she says, flicking her eyes towards Scully, then back at Mulder. She smiles. 

_So this is Scully. Shouldn’t be a problem._

His shoulders are hunched, his pace quickening as they head towards the elevators. She watches his ass as he strides away from her and smiles contentedly. Her footsteps falter for a moment, the precise rhythm interrupted as her glance strays to his hand, placed possessively on the small of Scully’s back. 

***

When they get to their car in the parking garage, both she and Scully reach the passenger side door at the same time. She looks at the smaller woman once more, confident in her ability to bully her out of the way, especially when it comes to Mulder.

Her eyes widen and she takes an involuntary step back at Scully’s expression. One of her delicate auburn eyebrows is raised in disdain. No longer the slip of a woman she underestimated back in the conference room, Diana sees the real Scully for the first time. Her back is ramrod straight, and her icy-blue eyes seem to pierce straight into her. Diana feels naked, like all of her secrets are on display. 

Her eyes widen and she takes a step backwards before recovering and moving to the other side of the car beside Mulder. When she looks at him, he’s looking at his partner, his eyes raised in an expression she can’t read. They seem to share some sort of unspoken dialogue. For the first time, Diana feels like she’s intruding on something she shouldn’t.

_This might be more difficult than I thought._


	2. Scully

“I'd like to head down to the facility and interview him, but there's something I need to pick up first.” Mulder’s standing so close to her she can smell his aftershave, the hint of detergent. There’s tension in his shoulders, a heat emanating from him, and a strange, desperate look in his eyes.

“Mulder, you can't be serious. Why would someone want to assassinate a child?”

“Just… trust me on this one Scully.” His eyes flick over her shoulder to look at something and Scully turns to see the tall brunette who'd spoken up in the meeting. Turning back to look at her partner she sees an unreadable expression on them, something that causes her hackles to rise, a protective instinct overwhelming her usual decorum. 

_Maybe if I ignored her she'd go away?_

“I'd like to join you, if that's all right.” The tone of her voice is soft and sensual. As the taller woman moves to place her hand on Mulder’s arm, Scully finds herself moving closer to her partner, subtly intercepting the movement and following him out of the room.

As they walk down the hallway, Scully looks at him then to this new woman, waiting for some introduction, sensing that there’s some sort of meaningful history between them. When Mulder continues his silent near-sprint to their office, she sighs and turns awkwardly to face the woman trailing them.

"Agent Scully." 

"I’m Diana Fowley." The other woman glances briefly down towards her, seeming almost surprised at Scully's presence. When Diana looks back at Mulder, Scully sees her eyes soften with an unmistakable tenderness and a thick, sharp bitterness rises from the pit of her stomach to clog her throat. Turning away from the other woman, suddenly flushed with heat and her heart thumping in her chest, Scully uses all of her clinical training to force a neutral expression on her face and steady her breathing. 

But one thought dominates her mind: _I don’t like her._

***

As the three of them approach the requisitioned car in the blessedly cool garage, both Diana and Scully approach the passenger side door at the same time, while Mulder makes his way over to the drivers side. He's oblivious and silent, fiddling with the keys to unlock the door. 

Scully straightens her shoulders and looks at Diana curiously, keeping her hand on the door handle. Before the other woman backs down, Scully sees a flash of annoyance and fear on her face. She watches Diana carefully, as she avoids Scully’s gaze and moves to the other side of the car, stepping into the back seat behind Mulder.

He looks over the roof at Scully, flashing her an apologetic smile. _At what? He obviously knows this woman, despite his few words since the conference room. What does Diana mean to him? Why is he so tight-lipped?_

It shouldn’t concern her if he was interested in another woman, but she’d never been rational when it came to her feelings for Mulder. Scully wraps herself tightly in her coat, and forces herself to think about the case instead of his strange behavior, and about this new, strange woman.


	3. Mulder

_What. The. Fuck._

Thankful for the distraction of the case, he stumbles forward with his theory, ignoring the pounding in his chest and his sweaty palms, desperately putting on the blankest expression he can muster. The meeting ends, the rest of the agents leave and so does his ability to think of something quick to say to Scully before Diana approaches them.

“I'd like to head down to the facility and interview him, but there's something I need to pick up first.” He leans in close to Scully as she stands next to him, putting a hand on her elbow, drawing her close as if she was his armor, his protection.

“Mulder, you can't be serious. Why would someone want to assassinate a child?”

“Just… trust me on this one Scully.” 

When he looks up, Diana’s standing behind Scully, looking exactly the same as he remembers. 

“I'd like to join you, if that's all right.” Her words are said gently, in a way that hints at things unsaid, that triggers a memory of her moving passionately over him. He sees expectation written all over her face and he’s not sure how to dissuade her this time. When has he ever been able to do that?

He turns before Scully can see his face redden, not bothering to answer, knowing Diana will come regardless.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

He practically runs to the elevator, stopping at their office for the electronic chessboard he kept from a previous case. When he feels Scully’s presence beside him, he calms. Thank God she’s still here. At the same time he feels like his world is crumbling around him. He hadn’t anticipated this situation, that his past would suddenly rear up and confront his present. There had been so many other things holding Scully and him back from talking about what mattered. And now this? He’s suddenly reminded of how terrible an idea it would be for him and Scully to be anything except friends and partners, how utterly worthless he is as a person.

Turning his mind away from the two women walking with him, Mulder has the brief thought about how fortuitous it is that someone like Diana is here to help with the case. The idea twists in his gut. He feels guilty about including Diana, knowing how much it would complicate things with Scully. That’s what he was, though, it was useless to deny it: a complete selfish jerk. How was it that Diana worded it in her last letter to him? “I just need someone who can give me more than an empty bed.” His near-perfect memory seems to only help to hurt him.

As they approach the car in silence, he fumbles with the keys. He looks over the roof of the car at Scully. She’s confused, understandably, at his silence. He shoots her a look, hoping she’ll understand its meaning.

_Not here. Later. I’m sorry._

**Author's Note:**

> You can check out more [in-depth analysis on the whole Diana situation and MSR on my tumblr](https://msrheadcanon.tumblr.com/post/618310183981088768/5x20-the-end-x-files-rewatch-a-little).


End file.
